EPL: Nottingham Forest and Steve Cooper stay in the top flight amid season of turmoil

This was not some strange pre-match ritual but a last chance to inspire his squad to a vital victory that would secure their Premier League status. A video started. It was not focused on their game plan to try to beat Arsenal – instead, it centred on family. Family is Cooper’s driving force. It is the reason that he allowed Renan Lodi, the left back on loan from Atletico Madrid, time off last month to fly to Brazil to be at the birth of his child. And it proved to be the motivation to inspire Forest to a famous 1-0 win and another season in the top flight.

There were three aspects to his speech on Saturday: a focus on the players’ families, the family ethos among the squad and, most importantly for Cooper, the family of Forest supporters. Some of the players became emotional. At each one’s place in the changing room, the usual pictures of them decked in Forest kit had been replaced with images of their families and inspiring messages from them under the banner “believe”.

Since Cooper, 43, arrived in September 2021 he has bought into the history, the city and the supporters. He regularly invites club legends to the training ground while pictures of Brian Clough are framed in his office. While it may sound like a cliche, belief and togetherness have been a huge factor in Forest completing their survival mission. In a crazy summer transfer window that followed promotion back to the top flight after a 23-year absence, Forest signed 23 players. Cooper was right when he said after the Arsenal win that no other coaching team had ever had to deal with such huge change.

Improvements were required at the training ground for it to meet Premier League standards, with the club’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, spending millions on new pitches. However, the ones they replaced were on a slight slant, which had made preparing for matches even more difficult. Alterations were also made to the dressing rooms at the City Ground, analysis cameras were installed at the training ground, and meeting rooms were improved as were pre-match areas for the players.

The biggest change, though, was in the make-up of the squad. Eyebrows were raised at the number of players Forest brought in, but a large number of the signings were necessary. Five members of the side who beat Huddersfield Town in the Sky Bet Championship playoff final last May had been loanees, while others were out of contract. Morgan Gibbs-White, the Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder who had worked with Cooper in the England Under-17 team, was the manager’s priority signing and Marinakis pledged to invest whatever it would take to land him. In the end it took pounds 25 million up front, plus an additional pounds 5 million Forest must pay after staying up. It has been worth every penny.

The goals of Taiwo Awoniyi, signed from Union Berlin for pounds 17.5 million, have proved crucial. He scored in the 1-0 wins over West Ham United, Liverpool and Southampton earlier in the season, then, after a lean period, has come up with five in the past three games, including the winner against Arsenal. Not all the signings worked out and recruitment was complicated by the fact that Forest were working off three lists of targets. Cooper, Marinakis and George Syrianos, the club’s former head of recruitment, all had ideas.

It was hardly surprising that Forest had such a poor start to the season. After beating West Ham in their first home game they went eight matches without a win. Cooper was struggling to work out his best XI and the attractive, attacking football that had secured them promotion was never going to work against superior opposition.

By October, many had written off Forest and Cooper’s job was on the line. Marinakis thought about making a change, but instead rewarded his head coach with a new contract. The changes came behind the scenes, with Syrianos and the head scout, Andy Scott, departing that month. They were followed in January by the chief executive, Dane Murphy, who has yet to be replaced. Cooper extended his contract on November 7 and Forest lost only two of their seven matches before the World Cup break.

The Welshman adopted an open-door policy in his office at the training ground and no matter what time players or staff arrived at Forest’s Wilford Lane base, the lights would be on. Cooper embraced Nottingham life, moving to the city on his own and spending every spare minute working on a plan to keep his side up.

In his office was a wall chart with every game mapped out. The only other thing noted on that giant calendar was the dates of his players’ birthdays.

The World Cup halted Forest’s momentum and an injury crisis that was already brewing started to get worse. Only Chelsea, with 46 injuries across the season, have had more than Forest’s 45.

When the centre backs Scott McKenna and Willy Boly came off at the same time, in the seventh minute, against Fulham on February 11 with hamstring injuries, there was a feeling that Forest just couldn’t catch a break. They have worked without a head physiotherapist after Neil Simms left for Southampton at the end of the previous campaign. The one constant was their team spirit and anything that threatened to destabilise this was swiftly dealt with. It is why Jonjo Shelvey, a January acquisition from Newcastle United, was ordered to stay at home after reacting badly to finding out that he would not be starting against Liverpool in April.

Bonds have been built between what was a group of 30 strangers less than a year ago. There were regular meals out and trips for coffee within the various friendship groups. Injured players have been made to feel as much a part of the squad as those who are playing each week. With Dean Henderson, the goalkeeper, ruled out for the rest of the season, he could have gone back to his parent club, Manchester United, but instead wanted to support his Forest teammates. After a doctor’s appointment for his thigh injury, he travelled separately down to Brentford last month to be with the squad.

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The pressure on Cooper did not let up. In the boardroom at Leeds United at the start of April, with Forest in the midst of an 11-game winless streak, Cooper was described as a “dead man walking” by senior members of Forest’s staff as potential managerial replacements were sounded out. Marinakis, despite being furious with some of Cooper’s in-game decision-making, especially in defeats against West Ham and Brentford, again stuck by his manager, having weighed up the potential replacements and the way he is revered at the City Ground. A day after the 2-1 defeat at Elland Road, he issued a statement denying reports that Cooper was on the verge of dismissal.

A fortnight later, before the home defeat by United, the owner’s son, Miltiadis Marinakis, visited the dressing room at the training ground to speak to the team. This was not a regular occurrence, but he wanted to make clear the owner’s support for Cooper and the players. Soon after came the turning point. Forest, who have picked up only seven points on the road – compared to 30 at home – came close to getting a draw in a 3-2 defeat by Liverpool at Anfield. That improved performance sparked a run of three wins in five – all at the City Ground – which have kept Forest up. But what now? Will Cooper be there next season? He is likely to be on the radar of other clubs, but has such a bond with Forest. The squad will need further tweaking, too. The club are expected to make an offer to United to sign Henderson on a permanent deal, with Keylor Navas leaving at the end of his loan spell. Jesse Lingard will not be staying, with interest from clubs around the world, while a decision needs to be made on Lodi, who is on loan, and Serge Aurier, who only signed a one-year deal. Marinakis will provide financial backing to strengthen the squad and with Ross Wilson arriving as chief football officer and lessons to be learnt by everyone, the hope is they can return even stronger for next season.

-The Times

Originally published as EPL: Nottingham Forest and Steve Cooper stay in the top flight amid season of turmoil